After rigorous assessment of each application by an all-star, interdepartmental team of City staff, we are very excited to announce the list of projects from our first-ever application window approved to be implemented! Check out the list of approved People St projects below, to be installed as early as this fall:

Successful applicants closely reviewed the People St Application Manuals to ensure the completeness of their application materials, asked LADOT questions relating to site feasibility and application requirements early on in their process, and involved many local stakeholders in project development. The People St program has experienced a healthy amount of interest from community organizations and individuals seeking to transform their neighborhood streets into people-oriented spaces.

What’s next for these projects?

Prior to installation, LADOT will post public-notice posters at all approved project locations for 10 business days. During this time, members of the public can submit public comments directly to LADOT via our website.

Additionally, LADOT will work with these Community Partners to collect baseline information about the site before project installation, and guide them through the design development process. People St looks forward to continuing to work with the approved Community Partners to create these innovative people-oriented spaces throughout the City!

Did you hear the great news?

On May 1, 2014, LADOT People St was honored by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) with a prestigious Sustainability Award for Achievement in Active Transportation at the Annual Sustainability Awards. Along with several other Southern California jurisdictions, LADOT received recognition for the program’s contributions to active transportation in a video introduction from former LA City Planning Director and current Urban Land Institute (ULI) Los Angeles Chapter Executive Director Gail Goldberg honoring the program’s facilitation of partnerships between the City of Los Angeles and the community to “recaptur[e] pieces of streets for use by people.”

We would like to thank Kevin Ocubillo from Councilmember Huizar’s office for nominating LADOT for this award. We would also like to thank all of the staff from across various City departments who contributed to the formalization of this award-winning program! Go People St!

“Partnering with Business Improvement Districts to Create ‘Streets for People’ Parklet Plazas in Los Angeles” by Gary Benjamin provides fresh guidance on the creation of optimum community partnerships. The establishes the qualities belonging to a community partner and to the partnership agreement that are most important to a successful parklet project.1 The study examines individual BID-managed parklet project cases in New York City and San Francisco by conducting interviews with BID directors and staff, as well as public agency personnel in the NYC Plaza Program and SF Pavement to Parks. The study also establishes the applicability of the lessons learned from parklet projects in other cities.

The fourth and final pilot parklet was dedicated this weekend on February 16th, 2013, with much fanfare. People St and Councilmemer Huizar gathered with the LA 32 Neighborhood Council, Barrio Action, Living Streets LA and the Wilson High School Band to commemorate the grand opening in El Sereno. This parklet sits on the T-intersection at Huntington Drive and Rosemead Avenue in the heart of El Sereno’s commercial district.

The parklet was designed through a series of workshops by local residents who wanted to add a public gathering and seating place to Huntington Drive. Funding for the project came from Councilmember Huizar who worked with Living Streets LA to create an “Improvement Vision and Action Plan” for the Huntington Drive corridor. Here, small details that reflect the community were able to make their way into the final designs. For example, the lavender plants and lime and lemon trees pay homage to the areas not so distant agricultural heritage.

Like the parklet on York Blvd. in Highland Park, the Huntington Drive parklet was built 100% by hand by the skilled youths at the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. Located just blocks away from El Sereno Elementary, along one of Northeast LA’s most visited corridors, the Huntington Parklet is ready for when you visit!

LADOT celebrates the installation of the Spring Street Pilot Parklets in Downtown Los Angeles, the result of a 2-year collaboration between the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council (DLANC), the City of Los Angeles Departments of Transportation, Public Works and City Planning, Councilmember Jose Huizar, the Historic Downtown Business Improvement District (HDBID), the UCLA Complete Streets Initiative, the Gilbert Foundation, and countless project partners and supporters.

The parklets initiative of the DLANC Complete Streets Working Group received City Council support as a pilot project in Fall 2012 and convened grassroots volunteers and community members to work with an array of talented design professionals, all on a pro-bono basis, to design and install the parklets. The urban parks, which occupy the length of two metered parking spaces, are located on Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Parklets aim to create more space for sidewalk amenities while encouraging a more vibrant street life with traffic calming measures. Exercise bikes, a foosball table, and a variety of seating in the parklets are designed to complement public life on Spring Street.

Major funding was provided by The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation. Research support was provided by Parklet Studies and the UCLA Complete Streets Initiative. The Historic Downtown BID, parklet steward, has partnered with DLANC and LADOT to assume responsibility for long-term maintenance and operations.

This pilot project effort, led and designed by the DLANC Complete Streets Working Group, was achieved with a variety of pro-bono contributions, donations, and sponsorships. The interdisciplinary team of pro-bono design professionals included architects, urban designers, landscape architects, environmental graphic designers, web designers, and planners who led and managed the design process with the city, instigated a parklet impact study, crafted a wayfinding and signage system, and developed a website with public information materials. Community-driven design shines through in this project, which will inform the future development of a citywide program for parklets.

More information about the Spring Street Pilot Parklets and DLANC Complete Streets Working Group, including team member bios and a list of project sponsors, can be found at www.completestreets.dlanc.com

On Thursday February 7th, 2013 People St unveiled one of the city’s first pilot parklets on York Blvd. in Highland Park. The Parklet design came out of a months long collaboration between Councilmember Huizar and Living Streets LA who worked to create an “Improvement Vision and Action Plan” for York Blvd. After dozens of community workshops, community members selected the parklet and it’s location between Avenue 49 and Avenue 50 as the centerpiece of the community-driven improvement plan. LADOT engineers worked in unprecedented close collaboration with designers and community members to translate concept drawings into the parklet that exists today.

The York Parklet is the only parklet in the City of Los Angeles to feature custom mural tile work, done by local Highland Park artist, Cathi Milligan, whose shop the Glass Studio is just down the block. The entire parklet was built by the hands of skilled youths from the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. If you haven’t already, be sure to stop by the York Parklet on your next visit to Northeast LA.

The Los Angeles City Council has directed the Departments of Transportation, Public Works, and City Planning to assist community groups with the installation of four pilot parklets. Over the past year, community groups in Highland Park, Downtown Los Angeles, and El Sereno have been developing plans for improving the public realm, design elements such as parklets as a centerpiece of their plans. Parklets are small areas for seating and planting that extend the sidewalk into on-street metered parking spaces.

The four pilot parklets – one on York Boulevard in Highland Park, two on Spring Street in Downtown Los Angeles, and another on Huntington Drive in El Sereno, will be the first of their kind in the City of Los Angeles, and will inform the development of a citywide program to facilitate communities across Los Angeles with implementing similar projects.

People St is proud to announce the opening of Sunset Triangle Plaza at Griffith Park and Sunset Boulevards in Silver Lake! Come join us on March4th, for a community celebration as we turn a street for cars into a street for people.

Although Sunset Triangle Plaza draws its inspiration from the successful pedestrian plazas created with a painted street surface, potted plants and moveable tables and chairs in New York and San Francisco, the original concept of a pedestrian plaza in Silver Lake was developed by community members in 2006.

Sunset Triangle Plaza will be located on Griffith Park Blvd between Edgecliffe Dr. and Maltman Ave and will be temporary closed to automobile traffic for the duration of the pilot project (approximately one year). Cars will continue to be able to use Edgecliffe Dr. to travel around the plaza.

At Sunset Triangle Plaza, the twice-weekly farmer’s market will continue to operate uninterrupted, additional parking spaces will be created along Sunset Blvd to accommodate for some of those lost, and all street furniture will be brought inside each evening to maintain its quality and cleanliness.

There has been increased demand in Los Angeles for safer and more welcoming streets for residents to play, walk, run, bicycle and rest. Sunset Triangle Plaza offers a destination for people of all ages, backgrounds and physical abilities to sit and relax, visit local business or engage with members of your community in a vibrant public space.